This Week in CHCACTivities

Marlene MoraninoDirector of Clinical Programs

On January 22nd-23rd, Futures Without Violence convened the leaders from four states (Connecticut, Arkansas, Idaho and Iowa) that were recently funded to kick off “Project Catalyst: Statewide Transformation on Health and IPV.” I was proud to be a part of our Connecticut team, along with Lindsey Kelly from the Department of Public Health and Jillian Gilchrest from the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence. These two days were focused on fostering leadership and collaboration, to improve the health and safety outcomes for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and human trafficking, including promoting prevention. The teams participated in training around intimate partner violence and human trafficking, as well as strategic ways to implement integration of IPV and human trafficking response into health care delivery throughout Connecticut – including in 50% of our state’s health centers.

For the new program, six health centers – Staywell Health Center, Optimus Health Care, Southwest Community Health Center, InterCommunity, United Community & Family Services and Charter Oak Health Center – have partnered with six local domestic violence programs. Over the next several months, a 2-day “train the trainer” program will convene, utilizing comprehensive training curricula, health care provider resources, patient education material and quality improvement tools developed by FUTURES, including online toolkit www.ipvhealthpartners.org, developed by and for community health centers and local domestic violence organizations to expand their partnerships.

Each of the six demonstration health centers has identified staff “champions” who will attend the trainings, act as resources/trainers at the health center level and partner with the local domestic violence centers on trauma-informed transformation. This is an ambitious program to be undertaken over the next 10 months! The state leadership team and partners at the health centers and domestic violence organizations are committed to providing systems changes that support an integrated and improved responses to IPV and human trafficking in Connecticut. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

The Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) has launched an aggressive plan to expand access to the Centering model of group healthcare in the communities where group care can have the greatest impact. With this expansion, CHI has developed a program offering technical assistance and implementation services to 130 eligible sites – primarily in FQHCs and community health centers – eliminating the financial barrier to those in resource-limited communities.

This Week in Health Policy News

Here is a sampling of health policy news from around the state. If you see something in your local newspaper that you would like featured here in future weeks, please contact Deb Polun at dpolun@chcact.org. Check out all the Health Policy News from the past month here!

About CHCACT

CHCACT plays an active role in health policy discussions by participating on key advisory councils. We provide on-going information on community health center programs and clinical performance to Connecticut's decision-makers, elected officials and residents.